WEDNESDAY
• Artist Carey Newman and his daughter, Adelyn Newman-Ting, will speak about the orange shirts he has created and his making of the Witness Blanket for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 5 p.m. in the Clifford Carl Hall on the ground floor of the Royal B.C. Museum. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
• IMAX Victoria will host a special screening at 7:15 p.m of Picking up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket. Wawadiťła (Mungo Martin House) will be open with a ceremonial fire for prayer and reflection throughout the evening.
THURSDAY
• Elder Dr. Barney Williams, Nuu-chah-nulth Nation from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, will emcee Orange Shirt Day at Camosun College, starting at 1 p.m. at Na’tsa’maht: The Gathering Place on the college’s Lansdowne campus. Hosted by Eye? Sqa’lewen, the event will include guests from Quilts for Survivors, a poetry reading by Beth Mills, drumming and music.
• Faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members are invited to attend campus Orange Shirt Day events in the quad at the University of Victoria, which begins at 9 a.m. with Lighting of the Sacred Fire. Survivors will share their reflections, with speakers including Eddie Charlie, Karla Point and Mark Atleo.
• The Royal B.C. Museum hosts an Honouring and Understanding Gathering starting at 4:30 p.m. at Clifford Carl Hall on the ground floor of the museum. Keynote speaker Scott Clark, who is Coast Salish from Cheanuh on the west coast of the Island, has more than 30 years’ experience advocating on behalf of Indigenous peoples who reside off reserves.
At 7:15 p.m., IMAX Victoria screens The Road Forward, a musical documentary by Marie Clements that connects current First Nations activism with the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s.
FRIDAY
• Cyclists of all ages and abilities are invited to meet at 10 a.m. at Songhees Park in Vic West for the Capital Bike Reconciliation Day ride. After a speech by Diane Sam, the ride will proceed over the Johnson Street Bridge, culminating at the South Island Powwow at Royal Athletic Park in time for the grand entry. The Songhees First Nation has organized a free bike valet at the powwow for the cyclists.
• ReconciliACTION Oak Bay hosts a ceremony in front of the Sno’uyutth Welcome Pole on the grounds of Oak Bay High School at 9:30 a.m.
• Gates open at 10 a.m. and an opening ceremony will start at 11 a.m. for the Songhees First Nation Powwow at Royal Athletic Park. Grand entries are set for noon and 6 p.m., followed by dances.
• Xe Xe Smun’ Eem-Victoria Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters Ceremony starts at 10 a.m. in Victoria’s Centennial Square. The ceremony will include a welcome by Tsartlip Nation Elder May Sam, a land acknowledgement by Songhees Nation member Brianna Bear, speakers and performances, along with a minute of silence to remember the children who did not survive residential schools.
• 'Sou-ke Truth for Reconciliation hosts a ceremony outside the new Vancouver Island Regional Library, 6671 Wadams Way in Sooke, from 12:30-1:30 p.m., with Scott Sam leading the Amber Academy's Drum for the Children and opportunities to sign up for action groups.
• Healing Nation by director Jamuna Galay-Tamang and producer Symbia Barnaby will be shown to the public in honour of Truth and Reconciliation Day. The event, put on byThe Support Network for Indigenous Women and Women of Colour, a Victoria-based non-profit, will also include traditional music. It runs from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Vic Theatre, 808 Douglas St. in Victoria. Tickets by donation (suggested $15). For more information, see the Truth Before Reconciliation Eventbrite page.
• The Art of Reconciliation Exhibition is at the B.C. Legislature Hall of Honours until Oct. 14. Open weekdays to visitors from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on Sept. 30 from noon to 4 p.m. Artist-participants will be available on site on Friday to answer questions. See oac.uvic.ca/aor for more information on the program, which is led by the Victoria Native Friendship Centre and the UVic Centre for Youth & Society.
> Do you know of another event? Send the details to [email protected], with “Orange Shirt Day” in the subject line.
